All of Apple's services thus far are just meh. Music, TV, Arcade, News. Just meh. None of them are an awesome deal or must have content. They are just meh. Apple Pay would be OK but it only works a few places so it too is meh.
In fact I pass on pretty well all things that require subscriptions (from apple or not). I know that I'm not alone there.
When you retire, you are on a much reduced income. This madcap drive to make everything subscription is indeed targetted at Millenials/Gen ?? who bitch a lot about not being able to save any money. Coincidence?
Those of us who are retired are generally asset rich, cash poor, have great credit histories but are generally ignored by marketeers unless it is to sell us funeral plans.
Apple has a lot (As in huge) number of people who have been customers for years even decades but most of what they are doing is targetting the under 30's who are both asset and cash poor (or so we are led to belived). Strange that.
But I'm not sure what would interest us in the way of services. But I do know that I'll carry on not buying 'stuff' that I can't afford from my cash in hand.
Just my useless $0.02 worth. YMMV.
I’m pretty sure you’re paying monthly for a lot of things. Cable, Internet, Electricity, Water to name a few.
With all due respect, iCloud is nothing like Azure or AWS.
Azure and AWS are not only storage services but mostly cloud compute services. You can run your entire data center in AWS or Azure. Can you run anything in iCloud?
For crying out loud, iCloud can't even implement folder sharing among family members. That's just embarrassing, provided that Dropbox was able to do this 10 years ago.
Apple had MobileMe with cloud storage before Dropbox was founded, and now, over 15 years later, we still can't share folders! I upgraded all my Macs from Mojave to Catalina a couple weeks ago in order to be able to share folders among family members. Guess what I found out? This feature, which was promised during WWDC 2019, was not implemented in Catalina and was delayed until "Spring 2020". Seriously, Apple? Another disaster project from hell, just like Car Play, Apple Maps, and Siri.
iCloud does very very little compared to even Dropbox. Don't brig up Azure or AWS in the same article with iCloud because those services are lightyears ahead of iCloud.
When one speaks of Apples services, iCloud should be used as an example of how NOT to do services. Apple did well with Apple Pay and perhaps Apple Card (I wouldn't know anything about Apple Card, as I am not planning to have it). Apple TV+, Apple Maps, CarPlay, Siri, and iCloud, are serious flops on Apple's part. Yes, Apple Maps is still a disaster just like it was in 2012. CarPlay is so inferior to Android Auto that it's not even close. Even when running Google Maps on CarPlay, you can't get anywhere near in functionality of what Android Auto can do, and that's mostly because of how inferior Siri is to Google Assistant. Apple Maps is so bad that you can't use it to navigate to any POI reliably. It simply lacks the intelligence of Google Assistant + Google Search + Google Maps running in Android Auto. For that reason, I keep a cheap Android phone permanently connected to my car's head unit in order to use Android Auto. All my other phones are iPhones.
Eventually you will get bored and need to move on from exclaiming these tired old tropes and come up with new and exciting ways to dis Apple.
Apple should have made Apple TV+ into a super service like iTines was back 15 years ago. They should have had live TV with a la cart channels as well as streaming content and movies for sale and for rent. There was so much stuff Apple could have done with Apple TV+.
They could have made this into a streaming platform for content providers so that Apple would be the distributor of the streaming content, providing the bandwidth and the streaming technology on their platform for content providers and then take the legitimate cut for the services. If they couldn’t do live TV on their own, they could have bought SlingTV to utilize their technology. Instead, Apple released yet another underwhelming service that will lag behind Netflix, Amazon Video, and Hulu and will never catch up just like Apple Maps has never come close to Google Maps.
Apple had an opportunity to buy Waze and combine it with the Apple Maps UI to beat Google Maps. Instead, they let Google acquire Waze, which Google had no reason to buy other than keep it out of Apple’s reach.
Tim Cook is terrible about strategic acquisitions. He is opposite of Jeff Bezos in that respect. AWS was an acquisition for Amazon just like Whole Foods was an acquisition. Bezos grew Amazon from an online book reseller to the amazing company that it’s is today with its hands in everything, including online commerce, cloud computing, same-day delivery service, space travel, smart-home platform, tablets, TV streaming boxes, print media, etc.
Cook inherited the most innovative technology company that provided tremendous growth and had so much potential in 2011. Cook missed out on some serious strategic acquisitions like Tesla, and Waze, blew the chance to revolutionize TV with the release of underwhelming Apple TV+, wasted all the head start Apple had in CarPlay, Siri, and HomeKit, never fixed Apple Maps to be usable, totally stagnated iCloud, etc.
Yes, Apple has been a cash machine under Cook, but Cook has no idea what to do with the cash, so he blows it on stock repurchase, whereas Bezos invests in the future of the company and does it with tremendous success. Cook also wasted a lot of money on initiatives like Project Titan, which resulted in absolutely nothing.
AMZN stock price rose because of how Bezos grew the company, while AAPL rose because Cook blew hundreds of billions of dollars on stock buybacks. This strategy will eventually catch up with Apple. There’s no future without innovation. Apple can’t ride the same old horse forever.
Apple should have bought Tesla and offered Musk the position of the CEO of Apple. Perhaps Cook is a talented COO, but he has no vision and no place to be CEO.
Can't believe others are taking Podcasts, an Apple invention, and monetizing it as their own with exclusives. For a decade Apple ignored gaming and Podcasts. Apple is getting what they deserved there.
Let them have it. I don’t want to pay to subscribe to podcasts.
With all due respect, iCloud is nothing like Azure or AWS.
Azure and AWS are not only storage services but mostly cloud compute services. You can run your entire data center in AWS or Azure. Can you run anything in iCloud?
For crying out loud, iCloud can't even implement folder sharing among family members. That's just embarrassing, provided that Dropbox was able to do this 10 years ago.
Apple had MobileMe with cloud storage before Dropbox was founded, and now, over 15 years later, we still can't share folders! I upgraded all my Macs from Mojave to Catalina a couple weeks ago in order to be able to share folders among family members. Guess what I found out? This feature, which was promised during WWDC 2019, was not implemented in Catalina and was delayed until "Spring 2020". Seriously, Apple? Another disaster project from hell, just like Car Play, Apple Maps, and Siri.
iCloud does very very little compared to even Dropbox. Don't brig up Azure or AWS in the same article with iCloud because those services are lightyears ahead of iCloud.
When one speaks of Apples services, iCloud should be used as an example of how NOT to do services. Apple did well with Apple Pay and perhaps Apple Card (I wouldn't know anything about Apple Card, as I am not planning to have it). Apple TV+, Apple Maps, CarPlay, Siri, and iCloud, are serious flops on Apple's part. Yes, Apple Maps is still a disaster just like it was in 2012. CarPlay is so inferior to Android Auto that it's not even close. Even when running Google Maps on CarPlay, you can't get anywhere near in functionality of what Android Auto can do, and that's mostly because of how inferior Siri is to Google Assistant. Apple Maps is so bad that you can't use it to navigate to any POI reliably. It simply lacks the intelligence of Google Assistant + Google Search + Google Maps running in Android Auto. For that reason, I keep a cheap Android phone permanently connected to my car's head unit in order to use Android Auto. All my other phones are iPhones.
What a load of horse shit. I use every one of these services and enjoy doing so. Cite your data that establishes they are “flops” — you being down on Apple isn’t evidence.
As for AWS, you clearly don’t get what these services are. AWS and Azure are indeed enterprise platforms, that’s their purpose. iCloud is a consumer offering. Dur.
All of Apple's services thus far are just meh. Music, TV, Arcade, News. Just meh. None of them are an awesome deal or must have content. They are just meh. Apple Pay would be OK but it only works a few places so it too is meh.
Apple Pay only works in a few places? Laugh, good one. Dunno which part of the world you’re in but NFC tap payments are everywhere. Everywhere.
Apple should have bought Tesla and made Musk Apple’s CEO. Perhaps Cook is a talented COO, but he has no vision and no place to be CEO of Apple.
Ok now we know not to take you seriously. Replace Cook, who built the first trillion dollar public company, with Musk, who struggles to earn a profit. Hmm nope. You misunderstand the job duties of the CEO. Being a product visionary is not it. In fact, that’s a rare CEO who handles product development, I can only name one or two. Running the company well is the job duty of the CEO.
With all due respect, iCloud is nothing like Azure or AWS.
Azure and AWS are not only storage services but mostly cloud compute services. You can run your entire data center in AWS or Azure. Can you run anything in iCloud?
For crying out loud, iCloud can't even implement folder sharing among family members. That's just embarrassing, provided that Dropbox was able to do this 10 years ago.
Apple had MobileMe with cloud storage before Dropbox was founded, and now, over 15 years later, we still can't share folders! I upgraded all my Macs from Mojave to Catalina a couple weeks ago in order to be able to share folders among family members. Guess what I found out? This feature, which was promised during WWDC 2019, was not implemented in Catalina and was delayed until "Spring 2020". Seriously, Apple? Another disaster project from hell, just like Car Play, Apple Maps, and Siri.
iCloud does very very little compared to even Dropbox. Don't brig up Azure or AWS in the same article with iCloud because those services are lightyears ahead of iCloud.
When one speaks of Apples services, iCloud should be used as an example of how NOT to do services. Apple did well with Apple Pay and perhaps Apple Card (I wouldn't know anything about Apple Card, as I am not planning to have it). Apple TV+, Apple Maps, CarPlay, Siri, and iCloud, are serious flops on Apple's part. Yes, Apple Maps is still a disaster just like it was in 2012. CarPlay is so inferior to Android Auto that it's not even close. Even when running Google Maps on CarPlay, you can't get anywhere near in functionality of what Android Auto can do, and that's mostly because of how inferior Siri is to Google Assistant. Apple Maps is so bad that you can't use it to navigate to any POI reliably. It simply lacks the intelligence of Google Assistant + Google Search + Google Maps running in Android Auto. For that reason, I keep a cheap Android phone permanently connected to my car's head unit in order to use Android Auto. All my other phones are iPhones.
What a load of horse shit. I use every one of these services and enjoy doing so. Cite your data that establishes they are “flops” — you being down on Apple isn’t evidence.
As for AWS, you clearly don’t get what these services are. AWS and Azure are indeed enterprise platforms, that’s their purpose. iCloud is a consumer offering. Dur.
Oh, I know what AWS and Azure are. I deploy data centers on those platforms. I wasn’t the one who compared iCloud to AWS and Azure. The author of this article did.
With all due respect, iCloud is nothing like Azure or AWS.
Azure and AWS are not only storage services but mostly cloud compute services. You can run your entire data center in AWS or Azure. Can you run anything in iCloud?
For crying out loud, iCloud can't even implement folder sharing among family members. That's just embarrassing, provided that Dropbox was able to do this 10 years ago.
Apple had MobileMe with cloud storage before Dropbox was founded, and now, over 15 years later, we still can't share folders! I upgraded all my Macs from Mojave to Catalina a couple weeks ago in order to be able to share folders among family members. Guess what I found out? This feature, which was promised during WWDC 2019, was not implemented in Catalina and was delayed until "Spring 2020". Seriously, Apple? Another disaster project from hell, just like Car Play, Apple Maps, and Siri.
iCloud does very very little compared to even Dropbox. Don't brig up Azure or AWS in the same article with iCloud because those services are lightyears ahead of iCloud.
When one speaks of Apples services, iCloud should be used as an example of how NOT to do services. Apple did well with Apple Pay and perhaps Apple Card (I wouldn't know anything about Apple Card, as I am not planning to have it). Apple TV+, Apple Maps, CarPlay, Siri, and iCloud, are serious flops on Apple's part. Yes, Apple Maps is still a disaster just like it was in 2012. CarPlay is so inferior to Android Auto that it's not even close. Even when running Google Maps on CarPlay, you can't get anywhere near in functionality of what Android Auto can do, and that's mostly because of how inferior Siri is to Google Assistant. Apple Maps is so bad that you can't use it to navigate to any POI reliably. It simply lacks the intelligence of Google Assistant + Google Search + Google Maps running in Android Auto. For that reason, I keep a cheap Android phone permanently connected to my car's head unit in order to use Android Auto. All my other phones are iPhones.
What a load of horse shit. I use every one of these services and enjoy doing so. Cite your data that establishes they are “flops” — you being down on Apple isn’t evidence.
As for AWS, you clearly don’t get what these services are. AWS and Azure are indeed enterprise platforms, that’s their purpose. iCloud is a consumer offering. Dur.
Oh, I know what AWS and Azure are. I deploy data centers on those platforms. I wasn’t the one who compared iCloud to AWS and Azure. The author of this article did.
He did not. Read it again. Saying something is a stepping stone, is not the same as making a comparison.
I think Apple will get more into the financial side of services. They could literally buy Goldman Sachs and own a huge name in financial services as well as all the profits from AppleCard.
Also other activities related to privacy. Health is a big one but they have to navigate the myriad of health providers in the US. However the tie in with devices that can monitor your health is pretty powerful.
With all due respect, iCloud is nothing like Azure or AWS.
Azure and AWS are not only storage services but mostly cloud compute services. You can run your entire data center in AWS or Azure. Can you run anything in iCloud?
For crying out loud, iCloud can't even implement folder sharing among family members. That's just embarrassing, provided that Dropbox was able to do this 10 years ago.
Apple had MobileMe with cloud storage before Dropbox was founded, and now, over 15 years later, we still can't share folders! I upgraded all my Macs from Mojave to Catalina a couple weeks ago in order to be able to share folders among family members. Guess what I found out? This feature, which was promised during WWDC 2019, was not implemented in Catalina and was delayed until "Spring 2020". Seriously, Apple? Another disaster project from hell, just like Car Play, Apple Maps, and Siri.
iCloud does very very little compared to even Dropbox. Don't brig up Azure or AWS in the same article with iCloud because those services are lightyears ahead of iCloud.
When one speaks of Apples services, iCloud should be used as an example of how NOT to do services. Apple did well with Apple Pay and perhaps Apple Card (I wouldn't know anything about Apple Card, as I am not planning to have it). Apple TV+, Apple Maps, CarPlay, Siri, and iCloud, are serious flops on Apple's part. Yes, Apple Maps is still a disaster just like it was in 2012. CarPlay is so inferior to Android Auto that it's not even close. Even when running Google Maps on CarPlay, you can't get anywhere near in functionality of what Android Auto can do, and that's mostly because of how inferior Siri is to Google Assistant. Apple Maps is so bad that you can't use it to navigate to any POI reliably. It simply lacks the intelligence of Google Assistant + Google Search + Google Maps running in Android Auto. For that reason, I keep a cheap Android phone permanently connected to my car's head unit in order to use Android Auto. All my other phones are iPhones.
What a load of horse shit. I use every one of these services and enjoy doing so. Cite your data that establishes they are “flops” — you being down on Apple isn’t evidence.
As for AWS, you clearly don’t get what these services are. AWS and Azure are indeed enterprise platforms, that’s their purpose. iCloud is a consumer offering. Dur.
Oh, I know what AWS and Azure are. I deploy data centers on those platforms. I wasn’t the one who compared iCloud to AWS and Azure. The author of this article did.
He did not. Read it again. Saying something is a stepping stone, is not the same as making a comparison.
How is iCloud a stepping stone to a platform like Azure or AWS? Perhaps, the author meant that iCloud is a stepping stone to Dropbox and Box? Or, perhaps, the author has no clue what AWS or Azure is.
With all due respect, iCloud is nothing like Azure or AWS.
Azure and AWS are not only storage services but mostly cloud compute services. You can run your entire data center in AWS or Azure. Can you run anything in iCloud?
For crying out loud, iCloud can't even implement folder sharing among family members. That's just embarrassing, provided that Dropbox was able to do this 10 years ago.
Apple had MobileMe with cloud storage before Dropbox was founded, and now, over 15 years later, we still can't share folders! I upgraded all my Macs from Mojave to Catalina a couple weeks ago in order to be able to share folders among family members. Guess what I found out? This feature, which was promised during WWDC 2019, was not implemented in Catalina and was delayed until "Spring 2020". Seriously, Apple? Another disaster project from hell, just like Car Play, Apple Maps, and Siri.
iCloud does very very little compared to even Dropbox. Don't brig up Azure or AWS in the same article with iCloud because those services are lightyears ahead of iCloud.
When one speaks of Apples services, iCloud should be used as an example of how NOT to do services. Apple did well with Apple Pay and perhaps Apple Card (I wouldn't know anything about Apple Card, as I am not planning to have it). Apple TV+, Apple Maps, CarPlay, Siri, and iCloud, are serious flops on Apple's part. Yes, Apple Maps is still a disaster just like it was in 2012. CarPlay is so inferior to Android Auto that it's not even close. Even when running Google Maps on CarPlay, you can't get anywhere near in functionality of what Android Auto can do, and that's mostly because of how inferior Siri is to Google Assistant. Apple Maps is so bad that you can't use it to navigate to any POI reliably. It simply lacks the intelligence of Google Assistant + Google Search + Google Maps running in Android Auto. For that reason, I keep a cheap Android phone permanently connected to my car's head unit in order to use Android Auto. All my other phones are iPhones.
What a load of horse shit. I use every one of these services and enjoy doing so. Cite your data that establishes they are “flops” — you being down on Apple isn’t evidence.
As for AWS, you clearly don’t get what these services are. AWS and Azure are indeed enterprise platforms, that’s their purpose. iCloud is a consumer offering. Dur.
Oh, I know what AWS and Azure are. I deploy data centers on those platforms. I wasn’t the one who compared iCloud to AWS and Azure. The author of this article did.
He did not. Read it again. Saying something is a stepping stone, is not the same as making a comparison.
I originally agreed with Sirozha and re-read as suggested. Has the article been updated? It reads slightly differently now...
In fact I pass on pretty well all things that require subscriptions (from apple or not). I know that I'm not alone there.
When you retire, you are on a much reduced income. This madcap drive to make everything subscription is indeed targetted at Millenials/Gen ?? who bitch a lot about not being able to save any money. Coincidence?
Those of us who are retired are generally asset rich, cash poor, have great credit histories but are generally ignored by marketeers unless it is to sell us funeral plans.
Apple has a lot (As in huge) number of people who have been customers for years even decades but most of what they are doing is targetting the under 30's who are both asset and cash poor (or so we are led to belived). Strange that.
But I'm not sure what would interest us in the way of services. But I do know that I'll carry on not buying 'stuff' that I can't afford from my cash in hand.
Just my useless $0.02 worth. YMMV.
I can't say I disagree. Apple Services have, for the most part, left me cold. - Card would be cool but isn't in Canada yet and I expect won't be for some years. (See note about ApplePay below). - TV+ We have that because it's free. My wife uses it to get BritBox. Little else interests her, certainly none of their in-house productions. Unless something changes by fall we will likely drop it for just BritBox - News+ Pass. I don't need to subscribe to get BBC, CBC, AI, TMO, and ScienceDaily. I'll do my own curating thank you. - Arcade Looks interesting, but I have no problem buying games in the store as I decide to try something. A subscription would only cost me more per month.
- Music Pass. I stream from AllClassicaldotorg. I pay ~$75 per year and get just what I want. Add to that ApplePay which I tried on my last phone. I found it more difficult to use and it worked less reliably than tap with my chip card. Might not be AP itself, maybe the scanners around here are not cutting edge. But after three strikes in a row (and the resulting grumbling backups behind me and glares form the clerk) I stopped using it. I haven't bothered to set it up on my new iPhone.
Then add rental software, a model that Apple is pushing so hard. I will not pay for the same program over and over without any benefit. I don't do rental software.
So I agree, I pass on most subscriptions. Not just for monetary reasons, though that's a factor. I do subscribe to things that give me an ongoing benefit, Internet access, iCloud (which could be better), particular streaming services, but with most of these monthly services I either am not interested in what they are selling, or see no reason to pay monthly for no added benefit. Some, ApplePay and software subscriptions for example, seem like a step backwards.
I think health and fitness are the obvious next stage service opportunities. There are hundreds of paid subscription apps for meditation, yoga, training, etc on the App Store. Apple could offer them all under one banner, leverage the popularity of the Apple Watch, and throw in the occasional celebrity guest leading a live class. Home workouts are one of the fastest growing trends in fitness right now, and Apple would have no problem cashing in on it. $4.99 or $9.99 a month? It wouldn’t matter. Such a service would surpass Apple News+ on day one.
Just my opinion.
I think there are almost limitless opportunities ahead for Apple in healthcare, ranging from monitoring, A.I.-assisted diagnosis and perhaps even physical therapy using devices or robotics. Robotics is another vast new evolving area for them to enter and dominate.
I would love to see Apple develop a VNO service for phones and residential ISP, by reselling landline and wireless on their own network with a high level of security and (optional) international roaming.
All of Apple's services thus far are just meh. Music, TV, Arcade, News. Just meh. None of them are an awesome deal or must have content. They are just meh. Apple Pay would be OK but it only works a few places so it too is meh.
Disagree with you on the Apple Pay. It’s terrific and as long as more places keep adopting it, I’ll keep using it instead of cash.
All of Apple's services thus far are just meh. Music, TV, Arcade, News. Just meh. None of them are an awesome deal or must have content. They are just meh. Apple Pay would be OK but it only works a few places so it too is meh.
Apple Pay works in a lot of places. Any place that takes a contactless payment takes Apple Pay even if they don't advertise or know it. When I travel to Canada, Apple Pay works pretty much everywhere without exception because all of their credit card terminals are enabled for contactless payments unless the terminals are 10 years old.
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I’m pretty sure you’re paying monthly for a lot of things. Cable, Internet, Electricity, Water to name a few.
What a load of horse shit. I use every one of these services and enjoy doing so. Cite your data that establishes they are “flops” — you being down on Apple isn’t evidence.
As for AWS, you clearly don’t get what these services are. AWS and Azure are indeed enterprise platforms, that’s their purpose. iCloud is a consumer offering. Dur.
Ok now we know not to take you seriously. Replace Cook, who built the first trillion dollar public company, with Musk, who struggles to earn a profit. Hmm nope. You misunderstand the job duties of the CEO. Being a product visionary is not it. In fact, that’s a rare CEO who handles product development, I can only name one or two. Running the company well is the job duty of the CEO.
Don't quit your day job.
Also other activities related to privacy. Health is a big one but they have to navigate the myriad of health providers in the US. However the tie in with devices that can monitor your health is pretty powerful.
- Card would be cool but isn't in Canada yet and I expect won't be for some years. (See note about ApplePay below).
- TV+ We have that because it's free. My wife uses it to get BritBox. Little else interests her, certainly none of their in-house productions. Unless something changes by fall we will likely drop it for just BritBox
- News+ Pass. I don't need to subscribe to get BBC, CBC, AI, TMO, and ScienceDaily. I'll do my own curating thank you.
- Arcade Looks interesting, but I have no problem buying games in the store as I decide to try something. A subscription would only cost me more per month.
Add to that ApplePay which I tried on my last phone. I found it more difficult to use and it worked less reliably than tap with my chip card. Might not be AP itself, maybe the scanners around here are not cutting edge. But after three strikes in a row (and the resulting grumbling backups behind me and glares form the clerk) I stopped using it. I haven't bothered to set it up on my new iPhone.
Then add rental software, a model that Apple is pushing so hard. I will not pay for the same program over and over without any benefit. I don't do rental software.
So I agree, I pass on most subscriptions. Not just for monetary reasons, though that's a factor. I do subscribe to things that give me an ongoing benefit, Internet access, iCloud (which could be better), particular streaming services, but with most of these monthly services I either am not interested in what they are selling, or see no reason to pay monthly for no added benefit. Some, ApplePay and software subscriptions for example, seem like a step backwards.